We Are the Ants is a novel about figuring out our place in the universe. It’s a coming of age tale that shows the power of friendships, love, staying true to yourself, and not letting labels define you. This book will make you laugh and at times it will definitely make you cry. It addresses just how cruel bullying can be, but also shows how important our friends are in our times of need and that although at times we feel as insignificant as “ants,” to those who love us we are the world.

While watching Call Me By Your Name, I felt less like I was watching a movie and more like I was observing the real lives of people unfolding in front of me. The film was very touching and the acting was superb. The characters had depth to them and at times you could feel their emotions without them having to say anything. The relationships between parents and child and romantic relationships were not your typical, over the top movie relationships. I could easily see what happened in the film playing out in real life and the ending was not a fairy tale which is much appreciated. I would recommend this movie to anyone as I feel that it was borderline perfect, even down to the soundtrack.

The Library’s two 20th anniversary celebrations last weekend were so awesome–we hope you made it. We had a youth-friendly event with music and cake at the Library from 3-6PM where we had a collaging/modpodge tile-making activity, live screen printing by artist Xabi Soto, and stories from two of the Library’s original founders. We also had a 21+ celebration later that night at Sac Brew Bike bar with performances, snacks from Evan’s Kitchen and I <3 Teriyaki, more cake, and a beer/cider bar. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence stopped by and presented the Library with a check for $500 from a recent fundraiser (thank you so much, Capitol City Sisters!). Below are some pretty photos from the festivities. If you missed out on a shirt, tote, or print from screenprinting artist Xabi Soto, there is a limited supply at the Library. Shirts are $15-20 (sliding scale), totes are $10, and prints are free! And, as always, support the Library for a further 20 years by purchasing a membership or donating your funds/time.

Leftover shirts, totes, and prints are in our display case in the front.

Temple Kirk performs at the evening celebration.

The Capitol City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence present a $500 check to the Lavender Library board.

The Lavender Library was founded 20 years ago this summer! Help us celebrate with two FREE celebrations, one family/youth friendly and one 21+.

1st Celebration: Family/Youth Friendly Crafting Event, 3-6pm
This will take place in the late afternoon at the Lavender Library and will include snacks, crafts, music, and more! Details coming soon.

2nd Celebration: 21+ Event, 7-10pm
This will take place in the evening at the Sacramento Brew Bike bar location on 19th between P and O. They’ll have a beer/cider bar (cash/card accepted) and we’ll have some snacks available, too. Evan’s Kitchen is donating some delicious appetizers! Music and spoken word performances by Annah Anti-Palindrome, JJ Barrón-Rivas, GT Velasco, Dolores 5000, KC Shane, and Temple K. Kirk. More sponsors to come!

So you’re the new board president! Congrats! What do you hope to focus on in the next year or so?

Thank you, I am so excited to continue contributing to this org in a new role. I am ready to push this org further than I have before. I have a vision of strengthening our values of being an inclusive, intersectional and radical space. I hope to have a bolder voice in the Sacramento Area LGBTQIA community and better reflect its beautiful diversity. As a queer latinx woman in the organization, I am more energized than ever for our next growth spurt. I want to bring to an end to queer spaces are primarily white, cis and privileged and I want folx to know this all-volunteer-run org truly belongs to them. This is OUR space to claim. The changes I’ve seen at the Lavender Library have been rapid and I’m ready to help shape and build its next chapter.

I heard you studied Women’s Studies in college. Why did you choose that major? What was your favorite class or paper?

I started doing grassroots feminist organizing since I was 17. I went to a Ladyfest I.E. meeting and never stopped, I knew that feminism was my passion and made it my path. I attended community college in Riverside for a few years and eventually made my way to Sac State.

I had the fortune of having some really incredible professors, classes and classmates. It’s difficult to highlight only one topic, but one of my favorites was deconstructing queerness and transness in the Middle East. More importantly, illustrating the parallels of how culture and politics influence the marginalization of subcommunities within the Middle East & the US. (Also there are some rad films that challenge US paternalism in POC communities at the library!)

What do you do for a living, when you’re not volunteering at the library?

I am a Project Manager at a local nonprofit called Sacramento Covered. We are an amazing org that assists individuals navigating the healthcare system. If you are not sure what your health coverage situation is, definitely feel feel to connect with me.

We also do advocacy on the local level for our undocumented community and are working with the city to connect individuals experiencing homelessness to health and housing.

Favorite show right now?

Definitely just finished Season 2 of Queer Eye on Netflix. (It’ll give you all the feels).

Last song/album you listened to?

Currently in love with with Janelle Monáe’s “I Like That”.

What do you like to do for self-care?

My self-care right now is working on house projects and trying new things. Meaning I’m painting my kitchen, taking latinx queer bachata dance classes and going to Paris (yes, actual Paris, France).

Any advice for a queer/trans youth reading this right now?

The future is intersectional. You are a force. You have to so much to bring to the table and are already impacting our community with your visibility, presence and voice. Don’t hold back.

May/June has been BUSY! The Lavender Library had a whirlwind of outreach this last month or so, with about 18 different outreach/tabling activities and events at the Library, in addition to our regular groups and whatnot. We hope we saw you at one of them. If we missed you, there’s always future opportunities. Check out the list of events below to see all the places we’ve been, and stay updated about future activities and events via social media or our calendar on this website.

Be Brave Be You (Youth Conference, Sac Unified School District) – May 19th

Hey friends, there’s a new book club in town–Ellipses! The club is going to focus on queer and trans articles and books that will give the community access to its history and knowledge, cuz knowledge = power. Join us for the first installment on Sunday May 13 at 2PM when we discuss the first couple chapters from Susan Stryker’s book Transgender History, 2nd edition.

Metered street parking is available, along with a few spots in the Library’s small parking lot.

The Lavender Library is participating in Big Day of Giving this year! On May 3rd, you can make donations at bigdayofgiving.org/llace all day long. We encourage folks to donate during the 2-3AM hour so we have a good chance at winning the extra prize for the participant with the most donors during that hour. Check it out and mark your calendars!

Join the Lavender Library for Drag Queen Storytime on Saturday March 24 at Noon, where we will be reading our favorite LGBTQ childrens’ books out loud for Queer Families from near and far! A local drag performer will be reading selections from our children’s section to the delight of all in attendance! And we’ll also have some activities for folks, like coloring and crafting.

• Event is all ages & FREE
• Light refreshments provided
• Some parking available on the side of the building & metered street parking available

This event series has been funded by a grant from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

LLACE has scheduled a few special events as part of our regular crafting event on the first and third Sundays of each month. The first of these special events is focused on “zine”-making, or the process of making small or short magazines that often focus in on a particular topic, and takes place on Sunday March 18 at 2PM. Gaining momentum in the 1990s, zines have been used for generations as a DIY forum of self expression and publication. From poems, essays, and political opinions, to collages and art pieces, zines are a way for groups to voice opinions outside the social norm.

We invite the community to join us and learn how to create them. We may also have a few completed zines on hand as examples.

All materials and instructions provided. Feel free to bring additional collage materials and art tools. Free event open to the public. Street parking free on Sundays. In addition, parking available in lot behind library.

We’re so excited to host this important workshop on eating disorders and self love. The sponsoring organization is Nalgona Positivity Pride (NPP)–a xicana-indigenous body-positive organization that provides intersectional eating disorders education and community-based support for people of color who are struggling with troubled eating and poor body-image. After not seeing her own experiences reflected and the lack of cultural awareness in the eating disorder world, Gloria Lucas started NPP in 2014 out of an urgent need to create a platform for communities of color and indigenous-descent communities who struggle alone. Gloria first-hand experienced the isolation that comes with being a person of color with an eating disorder and the absence of services for low-income people.

NPP’s line of work focuses on uncovering the impacts of colonialism, social oppression, historical trauma and its role in impairing relationships indigenous-descent people have with food and body-image. NPP’s goal is to help people of color and indigenous descent folks find education and resources for self-empowering, resistance, and healing.

If you are looking for more information or for future events, please message NPP at npppride@gmail.com